Victoria Falls Adventures

Here are the highlights of our three days at Vic Falls

Tuesday (9/30) @ Vic Falls
After repacking our bags (again!) taking just what we'd need in Vic Falls, we joined 13 others heading for a short vacation in the middle of our missionary trip. Meagan was also with us to return home to Zambia. The flight routed us through Bulawayo, so took over three hours to get to VF. It was raining in Bulawayo and we were concerned that we'd be facing rain at the Falls, but not so. It wasn't as sunny as we would have liked, but no rain. We were greeted at the airport by our transportation that Steve or Washington had arranged, and also by some "native" dancers, scantily clad and singing and playing drums.
Steve and Washington decided to rent two vehicles to facilitate getting around in town. Those were loaded mostly with our luggage, while most of us piled onto the air-conditioned van for the ride to the hotel.
At the hotel, we knew we must wait for either Steve or Washington to arrive before signing into our rooms. The staff at first were accommodating, offering us a complimentary drink and a comfortable place to wait. But as time went on and the others didn't show, they put more and more pressure on Jim to get us to take the rooms. He finally came up with a reason to wait that satisfied them. When Steve arrived, he did a magnificent job of convincing them to give us a rate of $50/person/night, which includes breakfast. So, we got our assigned rooms, then all said our last goodbyes to Meagan. What an impressive young woman she is.
We decided that we all felt fresh enough to visit the falls this evening. I was amused and surprised to see hands holding umbrellas and other things to buy or rent poking out from the souvenir booths near the parking lot as soon as we departed the cars. Steve told us that this was a taste of things to come.
The Falls were beautiful and breath-taking. One can't help but think of God when surveying such a glorious sight. The hymn "How Great Thou Art" comes to mind. It isn't possible for me to describe the beauty, power, and breath-taking majesty, so I hope the pictures we took will suffice.
We got wet, just walking past on the Zim side. In some places, it felt like a rain shower, in others, just a mist. Yet, Steve says the falls are lower than he's ever seen them before.
We took pictures, joked, played, and (some) did deeds of daring. We had a good time and I felt a little guilty to be in such luxurious surroundings when we had so recently been with orphans and destitute families who live so close, yet probably will never see the falls, and certainly cannot stay in a place like Elephant Hills. We had also left behind some of our American comrades who were continuing to serve others while we relaxed and had some fun. One thing I would have liked was a continuation of daily group devos during this portion of the trip.
The next experience made me feel even more aware of the difference in my circumstance and that of so many others in the world. We went to a restaurant called Boma. (Of course Steve had once again negotiated a good rate for us to make it affordable...) It offers traditional African fare as well as some more familiar foods. After each of us chose an appetizer from five choices, we were turned loose on the buffet-style service for the rest of our meal. We could select from about eight choices of meats to be grilled, all or just some. I chose warthog (at Steve's suggestion) and ostrich kebab, and a double portion of vegetables. This threw off John's selections as I nearly cleaned them out of veggies that were ready to serve. The warthog was excellent, but the ostrich was tough. Elsewhere, there was a salad bar; lamb on a spit, with various accompaniments; and multiple choices for dessert. Oh, and lots of choices of bread at the salad bar. Nathan, a young man on the trip--tall and lean--ate and ate and ate. He joked that he probably ate an entire warthog himself.
After eating came the entertainment, which was group participation drumming, with instruction. Nathan missed the instructions, as he was still eating.
It was fun, but not particularly melodious. The finale for the entertainment was volunteer dancing by members of the "audience." From our group, Chris, Tracy and Jessica volunteered. I did not have a good view of this so can't really report on how it looked.
We returned to the hotel with all of us ladies reveling at the idea that we would be able to dry our hair with a dryer!
Tomorrow we go on safari.

Wednesday (10/1) @ Vic Falls
We left the hotel early in order to get to Chobe Park while the animals are still active. We did not have to wait until the park to see wildlife, though. The people in our vehicle saw a giraffe, elephants and a sable while still in Zimbabwe. Across the border, we changed vehicles and off we went. Brrrr it was cold in the morning in those open-air buggies. But we knew it would warm up later in the day.
At times we saw many animals—impalas especially. But then we would go for a long time without seeing anything. But all-in-all, we saw just about all the types of animals that are supposed to live at Chobe during the morning tour, but no lions.
Lunch was another sumptuous spread. I had to try the impala ribs, which were quite good, but not as good as warthog.
As a group, we had decided that we also wanted to take the afternoon boat tour on the Chobe River. That was well worth the cost. Being on the river gave us up close and personal views of elephants, hippos and crocodiles. And the bird life in the park is also stunning. Between us, John and I got some great shots. I think John took some video of the elephants crossing the river, which ought to be quite impressive.
We piled into the two rental cars (and I do mean pile—getting 15 people into two vehciles that seat 5 each required some interesting arrangements) and headed to town for pizza. At the table, Jessica coaxed a very interesting story about how they came to be married out of Jim and Judy Liby. But, I can’t divulge the details. Just suffice to say that it was entertaining.

Thursday (10/2) @ Vic Falls
In the morning, a small group of us decide to go “Walk with the Lions” after Steve, once again, negotiated a reasonable rate. Since I did not see, nor photograph, a lion on this trip, I’ve decided to be brave and take the trip so I can show Josh a photo of me with a lion, even if it is only half-grown. It is awesome to see these creatures up close. I thought I would be more frightened than I was. Seeing others successfully touch the lion before me helped and having so many handlers there did too. Bev went after me, and just at that moment, the lioness started to act up a bit. It took some doing for the handlers to settle her down, but it all went well. We visited with two pairs of lions. I opted not to pet the second lion, so just took pictures. Steve, Bev and Chris were thrilled to acutally walk beside them. (We pet them as the were just lying down.)
Before we leave, we must pick up souvenirs for ourselves and loved ones. We brace ourselves for the challenge of shopping at the market. Deals can be had, but not without some harrassment. I asked John to stay with me while we strolled through the market looking for things I had on my list. I was surprised at how docile the vendors were. They each told us their name, where their “shop” was and asked the we give them consideration before buying. When we finally found a shop that had something we were looking for, the negotiations weren’t too bad. We may have been able to get the things we bought for less, but I felt that the prices weren’t outrageous. We had fun on our last purchase…a basket. I selected one I liked and the man who owned the rights to sell it asked a completely ridiculous amount. I countered with something much lower and he became stubborn, when suddenly I saw about five other people lifting baskets above their heads, indicating that they were willing to sell for the price I offered. So, I picked out one of those I liked and made a deal with the woman holding the basket. The man then was willing to sell me his for the price I had offered, even offered to go lower. But I was miffed at him for being so stubborn and went ahead to close the deal with the woman. John and I were laughing and knew we could have probably paid even less, but it was fun. At that point we were done shopping, so we went back to the car to wait for the others. That’s when we began to get mobbed and hounded by vendors offering us things we truly didn’t want. A mad without any hands came looking for some help, but I indicated I could not help him until the others were not around. So he patiently waited and I was finally able to give him some cash. I have no idea how a man without hands can live, except by begging. He was so thin and barefoot with ragged clothes on. My heart really felt for him.
Eventually, everyone was done shopping and I declare Jessica the best bargainer among the group. Chris, I think traded just clothing for everything he got. He ended up with just his soccer shorts on, having traded away all the clothes he brought with him and those he was wearing. I guess he always does that. I thanked him for not trading away the shorts!
Back to the hotel to pack up and get ready to fly back to Harare tomorrow. Most everyone will stay at the airport and catch their flight back home. We enjoyed a light dinner at the hotel.